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Dialogue Drill: MONEYBALL

January 22nd, 2014

by SU Admin

Here's one of the better bits of dialogue you'll find. The movie is MONEYBALL, screenplay by Steven Zaillian and Aaron Sorkin (nominated for an Oscar for Best Adapted Screenplay) and the story by Stan Chervin (based on the book by Michael Lewis).

Plot Summary: Oakland A's general manager Billy Beane's successful attempt to assemble a baseball team on a lean budget by employing computer-generated analysis to acquire new players.

For this bit of dialogue, Brad Pitt's character Billy is the GM for the Oakland A's and they are a cheap team with no money (small market) and they just lost the World Series by a hair. Billy is pissed, his boss won't pay their talent so they sign with the Yankees .

BILLY Guys, stop. You're talking like this is business as usual. It's not.

GRADY We're trying to solve the problem.

BILLY Not like this. You're not even looking at the problem.

GRADY We not only have a very clear understanding of the problem we now face, but everyone in this room has faced similar problems countless times before.

BILLY Good. What's the problem?

GRADY The problem is that we've lost 3 key players that we now have to replace.

BILLY Uh-uh. What's the problem?

PITTARO The problem is the same as it always is; we've got to put a team together with what we've got.

BILLY Uh-uh. What's the problem?

BARRY We've got 38 home runs to replace, 120 rbi's, 47 doubles...

BILLY Okay, stop. The problem we’re trying to solve is that this is an unfair game. There are rich teams, poor teams, 50 feet of crap and then there’s us. And now we’ve been gutted. We’re organ donors to the rich. The Red Sox took our kidneys and the Yankees took our heart. And now I’m listening to the same old shit about having a good body and being a tools guy like you’re looking for Fabio. Is there another first baseman like Giambi? (beat) Is there?

Everyone mumbles “no.”

A small sampling but you hopefully get a feel for what great dialogue there is consistantly throughout MONEYBALL. To read the screenplay, click here.